Getting access to website health information: does age really matter?

In the majority of the western countries the population is aging at a rapid pace. At the same time, society is increasingly becoming more digitalised. Information is supplied to a growing extent, and frequently solely, in digital form. It is obvious, that this trend poses dangers for people, like senior citizens, who have problems using such new media. They risk being excluded from crucial information (Duimel, 2007: 7). A complicating factor is that the landscape in which older people currently reside2 is largely shaped by what De Lange (2007: 23) calls the ‘decollectivisation of the life course’:

What does this ‘decollectivisation of the life course’ entail for senior citizens living in an ever more digitised society? Schnabel (1999: 18) pointed out the vital part ICT could play in this respect over a decade ago.